In a building being constructed, before the elevator doors are installed, there are generally open doorways fenced with various barriers to protect the workers against falling into the shaft. A plank laid across the doorway is a safety barrier serving this purpose. Removing and remounting such a plank is a laborious job and sometimes the remounting is neglected. Besides, a single safety plank like this provides no protection for the installers working in the shaft against objects falling down from the floors.
Other safety barriers used so far in the art are large plates or rectangular obstructions, attached with hooks or other fixing means to the wall surface facing the landing. However, large plates and meshworks are both difficult to handle and difficult to mount in place. Removing and remounting the obstructions is laborious e.g. when elevator components have to be passed into the elevator shaft through a doorway thus obstructed.
Another prior-art solution is a safety barrier having a wooden framework with transverse boards built on it to prevent people from falling down into the shaft. This safety barrier can be further provided with a plastic film to prevent small objects from falling down on installers in the shaft. This plastic film also provides some protection against the draught prevailing in the shaft space. A safety structure like this has to be built separately for each doorway and is also difficult to mount and to remove after use.